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Fairmont High School alumna Alicia Amling is a White House Special Events Producer. Amling graduated from FHS in 2007 and headed off to higher education to pursue her dreams. However, her journey started long before her diplomas were in hand.

From the age of seven, Alicia knew she wanted to be a journalist. After exploring different careers throughout her primary years, she eventually circled back to the world of journalism and the many options she could explore in the field.

“I pretty much always wanted to be a journalist and White House reporter,” Amling said.

Throughout her years at Fairmont, Amling’s love for journalism increased. Her passion for writing even lead her to the doors of The Flyer, but due to scheduling she was unable to take the class and join the newspaper staff.

“I tried to do Flyer in high school but my schedule wouldn’t allow it. I was really upset about it,” Amling said. “It was something I really wanted to do.”

Although she hit a roadblock, that didn’t stop her. She continued to pursue her career in the journalism field without taking specific classes. Once she graduated, she went to Washington and Lee University for four years and double majored in Journalism and Politics and received her bachelor’s degree.

Throughout her four years of college, she sought out and completed numerous internships each summer. While interning at Columbia Broadcasting System, she learned various styles and methods, the basics of reporting and fact checking.

Amling continued to excel in classes to further her knowledge. However, throughout time, she learned that some classes weren’t necessary and that sometimes there are other, better ways to learn this profession.

“There were a lot of classes that were really helpful, but some things just weren’t necessary,” Amling said.

Amling’s mother, Laura Budich, noticed from a young age that Amling was something special and had potential to do anything she set her mind to.

“From the age of four, she was very smart. Her teachers had to figure out what to do with her. She kept going ahead and doing different things on her own,” Budich said.

Budich knew that a normal desk job was not going to suffice for her daughter. She knew that she would seek out that rare, hard to obtain position.

“She’s somebody who always thinks outside the box and does everything in a different way,” Budich said.

Shortly after college, Amling pursued a career at The White House as a White House Special Events Producer. As a Special Events Producer, Amling and her team are in charge of running press conferences, travelling on Air Force One, setting up trips across the world and sorting through news reports in The White House.

In addition to the team that breaks up reports, there is also a travel team. This team consists of 13 members that rotate shifts flying with and basically following the president all around the world. When Trump goes to an event, his travel team is right behind him. If he is going to be on the evening news, the team makes sure that everything goes smoothly.

“Some days it’s sitting on the golf course and other days it’s really exciting,” Amling said.

It is not everyday that someone lands a job working near the president of The United States. Amling has worked towards this career since as far back as she can remember and she want others to know what it takes to get there.

“Focus and know that things will change and also know that things really do matter. What you do now will affect your future years,” she said. “Work hard for something you care about, you might change your mind, but it will feel good that you pursued something you wanted.”